The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-05-05
THE SUGAR MARKET.
Facts and Features of Interest TO HHa'
waIian Planters,

Since our last regular advices from the
Coast by mail steamers there have been
many and frequent fluctuations in prices
at San Francisco. On April 9Th the Cal
.ifornia Refinery lowered its prices by %
cent, as formerly reported. This drop
was followed on April 14th. by another
one of a cent by the California Refinery,
and on April 18th by further decline OF
II cent The two reductions of e cent
had completely demoralized the ATneri-
can Refinery, and its only hope for any
prolonged existence was in bluff game,
which it tried on by a drop of a cent
below the California Refinery's prices on
the afternoon of April 14th. The bluff
was promptly met by the California.
But after this the fun began. The Amer
lean would not sell according to its pub
lished list, and none of the San Francis
co jobbers could obtain sugars there ac-
cording to quotations. The result was to
considerably strengthen the position OF
the California, where orders are always
filled in accordance with the quoted
prices While the American was dilly-
dallying with customers and trying to go
II cent better, the California was attend
ing strictly to business, and thus secured
several old-time American customers.
The true position of affairs is thus &C
curately described by post reporter
on April 18th:
cts Just this way" said August Spreck-
els this morning. ''Our market has been
cut down by the rise in freight rates, and
we must have some place to sell our sugar.
We will meet any reduction that the Amer
lean Company can make, even if we only
get enough to pay for the barrels, and have
to give the sugar away"
E. l.. g. Steele, the head manager of the
American Company, was secluded in the
inner recesses of his office when a Post"
representative called to see him. The
scribe was informed that Mr.. Steele was
almighty busy" and it was doubtful when
he could be seen. An attempt to get the
company's quotations failed.
The lowest price for dry granulated in
San Francisco was cents, a figure
lower than sugar had ever been sold for
in San Francisco, and lower by q cent
than the New York price for the same
grade of sugar. Such an event has
never before occurred in the sugar his
tory of the United States. In this con-
nection the following extract from the
Chronicle" of April 18th is very sig
nifcant, its sugar" bias being so well
known:
+ The sugar refineries in this city are at
war. The object of the strife Is to obtain
control of the Pacific Coast markets, and
to this end the American and California
companies are arrayed against each other
and no effort will be spared by one to
drive it's competitor from the field. The
passage of the Interstate Commerce bill
has much to do with this condition of af
fairs. The increase of railroad freightS
will prevent shipments of sugar TO mar
kets which have heretofore been open to
the local redneries, and the field, in con-
sequence, has been greatly contracted. An
estimate has been made which shows that
only $4,000, 900 pounds of sugar can be
refined here this year with any chance
for a profit, while last year this amount
was nearly doubled. Either of the two
reineries could furnish this supply and
both corporations have full crop coming
in from the Sandwich Islands. 1t is as
serted that there is a surplus of from co.
600 to 10000 tons of beet sugar in France
and Belgium and that Russia alone has
surplus of 100000, 600 tons and over.
These figures are not little startling
considered and the very improbable
chance for a revival of European COM
merce during the present year.
On the Sth of this month the Califor-
fornia Refinery reduced all grades of sugar
except yellows one-eighth of a cent
pound. On the 14th the same company
made another reduction of the same
amount. The American Refinery on the
same day reduced its prices one-quarter of
a cent below their figure and this reduc-
ton was met by the rival company, so
that now both companies are selling dry
granulated sugar at 5 cents a pound,
This is a lower price than it ever sold for
before in San Francisco markets-lower
even than the price of refined sugar in
New York by three-quarterS OF a cent.
There is a prospect that prices will go still
lower.
But prices did not go "still lower"
On the contrary, on April ed the Cali
fornia Refinery advanced it's figures ID
cent on all grades except Golden c,
which was advanced Is cent. And
again on April 25th the public of San
Francisco were treated to another sur
prise by an advance of d cent on cube,
A crushed, extra powdered and fine
crushed; and an advance of cent on
dry granulated and all other grades.
The first four mentioned grades are now
quoted at 534 cents, with dry granu-
lated at SO cents, confectioners' A at
size, extra G at &C., and Golden C at
4Ac.
The Interstate Commerce Bill has
played no inconsiderable feature in the
California sugar market. 1t had the
effect of raising freights to points on the
Missouri to such an extentthat California
refined sugars could not compete there
with Eastern refined sugars except at the
lowest quoted price of five cents, which
made things exactly equal for both
Eastern and Western refineries. AS the
American has such enormous stocks, it
was practically shut out from doing any
profitable business on the Missouri with